When to Plant Chinese cabbage in Steamboat Springs, CO

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Steamboat Springs it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant chinese cabbage.


Planting Calendar for Chinese cabbage

Frost tolerance for chinese cabbage: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since chinese cabbage are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant chinese cabbage
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant chinese cabbage
Probably not a good time to plant chinese cabbage

The earliest that you can plant chinese cabbage in Steamboat Springs is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant chinese cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your chinese cabbage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your chinese cabbage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Steamboat Springs. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Steamboat Springs and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Steamboat Springs last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your chinese cabbage in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Steamboat Springs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Steamboat Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Steamboat Springs.